With a couple of leagues taking a break this week and the distinct lack of larger matches or derbies taking place, it almost feels as if our predictions are lacking in volume. This being said, we are facing the knockout stages of the Champions League and if history repeats itself, we could be seeing a separate batch of challenges revolving around just them.

Torino vs Juventus

First up this week we head over to Italy, where we find 10th place Torino play hosts to 2nd place Juventus in a rivalry known as the “Derby della Mole”. The match features Turin’s most prominent clubs and dates back years and years. Investments here are nice and simple, gold players are available in abundance for both sides, making our selection process easy.

Gladbach vs Dortmund

Over to Germany next where we find 8th place Gladbach playing hosts to 4th place Dortmund and with just 3 points separating the two clubs, and Champions League spots up for grabs, three points here is a must. If my memory is correct, Gladbach featured fairly recently which may hinder their chances of cropping up again, however we have seen teams feature multiple times in a short window and hence cannot ignore this game. Investments around big clubs in a big league offer plenty of gold players, so take your pick and pay discard value!

Vitoria Guimaraes vs Sporting Braga

Now to to Portugal where we find Guimaraes playing hosts to Braga in a derby known as “Derbi do Minho”. Now this time the Wikipedia page isn’t in English, so sadly we are lacking some interesting facts here, but fear not as we can still talk investments! With players available for all rarities, keep it simple, aim for discard though!

Norwich vs Ipswich

Over to England now where we find Norwich and Ipswich going head to head in the “East Anglian Derby”. Now it is vital to take note that this has already featured once this year, leaving it highly unlikely that it crops up again. However, hype is key when it comes to investments and people will buy to simply be prepared. If you choose to go down this route, I advise spending no more than discard on any card you purchase!

Young Boys vs Thun

Finally we head over to Switzerland where Young Boys play hosts to Thun in the Burner Derby. If I recall, we are yet to see this league feature within Marquee Matchups and hence this leaves us with an exciting prospect. Like most of our options this week, hype is likely to inflate their prices prior to the event. If you find yourself attempting to buy too late, ensure you are sniping and bidding to bring down the cost.

Champions League

As mentioned before, last year during the knockout stages of the Champions League, EA released two separate Marquee Matchup Challenges, each featuring 4 games. As the fixtures are spread across two legs, we could be seeing them pop up at any point over the next month.

It is also important to mention that although we talk about Champions League, we did see games from the Europa League featuring as well and hence keeping an eye on these fixtures wouldn’t hurt either.